There was a book written about thirty-five years ago by Fritz Ridenour
entitled "How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious."
Now, I have some trouble with separating
Christianity from religion, but it shouldn’t take more than few
seconds of reflection for us to figure out what he's driving at.
For too often we carry around some strange notions
of what it means to be religious that may not have a whole lot to do
with what it means to be Christian.
In fact, sometimes I think that what some folks do
in the name of religion may not have a whole lot to do with loving
their neighbors.
But while Ridenour is concerned with the message of
Paul's letter to the Romans, this morning I would like to focus on the
letter of James, especially the latter half of the first chapter.
In the seventeenth verse, James tells us, "Every
generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming
down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or
shadow due to change."
And in that passage, James tells us that in God
there is an eternal center of perfection. But James continues,
"In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of
truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures."
And it is significant that we are considered "first
fruits," for traditionally, the first fruits of harvest were considered
holy and frequently offered to God.
In the twenty-first verse of the fifteenth chapter
of Numbers, we read, "Throughout your generations you shall give to the
Lord a donation from the first of your batch of dough." And
again, in the fourth verse of the eighteenth chapter of Deuteronomy,
"The first fruits of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as
the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him."
We ARE something special; of all the goodness and
perfection in the creation of God, we ARE the first fruits of the
harvest. But being the best of the harvest does not mean that we
can sit around and gloat over being number one.
For we must make ourselves WORTHY of that position,
and behave as if we deserved it. And James tells us what is
expected of us.
"You must understand this, my beloved: let
everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your
anger does not produce God's righteousness."
And there is an echo here of the twenty-sixth verse
of the fourth chapter of Paul's letter to the Ephesians: "Be
angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger."
And again, the fourth verse of the fourth
Psalm: "When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your
beds, and be silent." But we are not asked to IGNORE what we hear
or see: indeed, we should be QUICK to hear. But having
heard, we are instructed to be patient. And in
that patience lies the work of God.
There is a cliche of the old west that has become a
modern-day joke. But there is so much truth in it that we may
indeed be laughing at ourselves when we laugh at it. It was
said that the law of survival was to "shoot first and ask questions
afterward."
And how often are we quick to anger and slow to hear
rather than the other way around? How often are we quick to judge
another person or what another person has done without giving truly
careful consideration to that person and that person's actions?
How often are we gullible in believing what goes through the rumor mill?
I began to realize in my youth that my first
impressions were usually wrong, based on a narrow, selfish view of the
world. I still have to work hard to avoid falling victim to those
first impressions.
In my first year in seminary I was so totally
unimpressed with a particular faculty member during that professor's
few visits to the courses I was then taking, that I scheduled my second
year's courses to either completely avoid or at least delay as long as
possible a further encounter with that person. And then I
discovered I was wrong. Very wrong. So wrong that in my
third year I actually intentionally scheduled a course with that
professor.
"Quick to listen,...slow to anger." Jesus had
something to say about this. When he encountered an angry mob
preparing to stone a prostitute, the words were simple: "Let
anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at
her."
For if God can forgive us our sins, should we not also be forgiving of others?
"Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank
growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that
has the power to save your souls." And in this context James is
not talking about the sordidness of other people. He is not
talking about the rank growth of wickedness of other people. He
is talking about us. You and me. But we first need to admit
that these weaknesses are within us; and even if we rid them today,
they are prepared to come back tomorrow. But there is a
remedy.
The implanted word is the gospel of Jesus
Christ. And if we can receive that message in meekness and
humility, it will grow within us. And it will save our souls.
Throughout the letter of James, he is assuming that
the reader already knows the gospel; and he is less concerned with
telling us what the gospel is than he is with telling us how we should
go about using it in living our lives.
But in doing this, he can be pretty hard on
us. Because after leading us to believe that we should be patient
and forgiving, fearful that he may have lulled us into a false sense of
complacency and lying down on the job, he suddenly shifts gears.
"But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers
who deceive themselves." That's a marvelous verse. And
it's too bad that it has been so bent out of shape by folks outside the
church.
For how many times have you heard it said by those
who can't afford an hour a week, or even an hour a month, for that
matter, for community worship, "I can be as good a Christian without
going to church as those folks who do." And they may be at least
partly right!
But look more closely at what James has said and
what he has NOT said. He has NOT said to NOT be hearers of the
word. In fact, he assumes that doers HAVE heard the word.
In fact, how can we DO the word if we have not HEARD it? And I
don't mean merely listening to a pastor preach; and I don't mean merely
listening to scripture being read. The implanted word of God is
more than that. We must also experience the word as it has
become part of the lives of our neighbors.
And if we cannot regularly participate in worship in
the community of our neighbors, how can we have any sense of what Jesus
meant when he told us to LOVE our neighbors?
"For if any are hearers of the word and not doers,
they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look
at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were
like."
And here again I hear an echo of those outside the
church. "Why should I go to church? I know folks who go to
church on Sunday morning, and as soon as they leave, they go back to
leading the same lives as they always did, unchanged by the
experience." Well, true and false. It's true that we may
leave church appearing unchanged during the following week.
But SOMEtimes, in spite of our best efforts, we may
have difficulty hearing the word. And MANY times, those changes
taking place in our lives may simply not be readily apparent to
others.
But ALL of the time, for those of us who are
physically able, by making the effort to physically present ourselves
in community with others, we are making a statement to God that down
deep within us is a concern for that community.
And we must NEVER sell short that effort and the message it sends.
There was a popular song some years ago with the
following words: "Tonight you're mine completely. You give
your love so sweetly. Tonight the light of love is in your
eyes. But will you love me tomorrow?" Now this obviously
does not apply to the love of God.
Because we know that God will love us tomorrow, and
the day after that, and the day after that. But can WE say the
same of our love? If we are hearers of the word on Sunday, will
we be doers of the word on Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday?
Once upon a time, the rock duet called the
Righteous Brothers had a song with this line in it: "If you
believe in forever, then life is just a one-night stand." Yet, if
we are to be true doers of the word, we must understand that Christian
love is not a one-night stand. It is forever, eternal. And
at each moment of our lives, it should consume us totally.
"But those who look into the perfect law, the law of
liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who
act--they will be blessed in their doing."
Some years back there began to appear on television,
and in magazines, a series of commercials and advertisements produced
by the Nike corporation, a company which makes athletic shoes.
The theme of the commercials was an incredibly
simple three words: "Just do it." And what it addresses is
the indecision folks have about exercise. I'm one of those
folks. I'll contemplate a long run and I'll
ask, "Do I really want to take the time to get all hot and sweaty and
ache-y, or should I be doing something else?" I've HEARD the
word that the exercise is good for me, but I hesitate to DO the
word. And Nike's answer is "Just do it." And whether Nike
knows it or not, they're talking about belief and faith.
If we Christians believe the word we have heard, and
if our faith is deep, we should brush indecision aside in our love and
JUST DO IT! We shouldn't ask WHEN we should love, or WHO we
should love or HOW we should love we should just DO IT!
And then James begins to pull together his
instruction: "If any think they are religious, and do not bridle
their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless."
Slow to speak, slow to anger. Full of
patience and forgiveness. Indeed, we would probably be a whole
lot better off if we spent less time thinking about being religious and
more time doing it. For our actions will show to the world, and
to God, how religious we really are. God does not want us
parading our religion around; God wants us demonstrating our
love.
Isn't it interesting that Jesus had so little to say
about Jews going through the motions of being religious, attending the
synagogue, etc., but so MUCH to say about how they should be living
their lives? Where should OUR concerns lie in the light of his
teaching?
And James concludes: "Religion that is pure
and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for
orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by
the world."
And we can hear Jesus in the thirty-fifth and
thirty-sixth verses of the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew: "For
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked
and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in
prison and you visited me."
And concluding in the fortieth verse: "Just as
you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,
you did it to me."
Christianity continues to amaze me in that it is
both so simple and so difficult. The rules are so few and so hard
to follow. The word is so easy to hear, yet so demanding to
do.
But that should not stop us; for the example has
been set by Jesus, and there are no greater rewards than those
promised through the love of God.